Activity

The new 420D and 1000D two sided fabrics make fantastic tie downs including web plates, and D-ring points. I also used a 1.5 cm strip inside a fold on my inside tube to floor reinforcement strip, so I can punch holes in it and tie a separate floor to the raft.

Simplest are webbing plates. I cut circles or ovals from either 420D or 1000D fabric,…[Read more]

Hi Mike,

Most of the fabrics available are only coated on one side, except for the heavier fabrics in the DIY Packraft shop, and possibly some sold elsewhere. I used to have fabrics with PU coating on the other side from the TPU, but PU is not as good as TPU. You will find that most PU coatings are not airtight or waterproof and can rub off with…[Read more]

hello,

today i get my samples from extremtextil.

the next days my irons should arrive that i can start research.

question to you?

are the most material is only one site coated?

is anywere fabric achievable which is one site tpu and the other site pu?

thanks for answers in advance.

mike

Packraft number two. Size large, bought plans from Matt. Fabric from extremtextil in Germany. Did not have any problems about bonding, but more heat is the answer. The fabric is not so good as Matt’s fabric. 

Modifyed soldering iron. Bought on eBay and the iron is a 60 watt iron with adjustment on the output heat. The iron shoetip is from another soldering iron also bought on eBay, but that iron did not delivered the propper heat. The iron fot is the cut down to 25mm with and the tickness under the fot then grined down about 5 mm so the heat transfer…[Read more]

Awesome!! Thanks for posting, Jeremy!

I managed to take the V2 packraft on a recent trip to Eugene, OR.  Packrafted the McKenzie River including a nice Class III ! Last picture you can see the obvious result of whitewater in an open bucket boat (completely swamped full of water). If I was doing a lot of whitewater I’d definitely want a spray deck!  I need to make a seat, the camp p…[Read more]

Bought another tube of Aquaseal last night and patched a few more leaks at the joints. Still had a small leak somewhere… may end up installing a zipper next to help me finally seal this boat.

Also just put together a seat, simply folded the extra floor material in half and used the extra strip material as pseudo baffles – one popped off…[Read more]

Bought plans from Matt, size large. Fabric fra extremtextil, 210 D tpu singel coated side for tubes and dobbel coated side 210 D for floor. Heating and bonding this together is no problem if you have the right tool. I´m using Coverite 21ST Century Sealing Iron on max temp and it is no problem to bond. Ok the fabric is lower quality than Matt is of…[Read more]

Update and current recommendations

I tested the Valad HS-3T heat sealing iron. It is the one unit I could not recommend for use with TPU coated Nylon-66 fabric.

The Valad Electrical Company hand held Heat Sealing Iron, model HS-3T, is a 165 watt stainless steel iron that I purchased for $15, well used, on eBay. It can also be purchased new for…[Read more]

Lyn,

I wanted to extend my corner tube out several inches to provide more flexibility in the connection, but it required more fabric. It looks to me like Exped is using valves similar to the new red valves now available on DIY, but with an additional smaller connecting link. The 7/8 OD silicone tubing works great, but I don’t think it’s such a…[Read more]